Listen, and your heart will hear me
by morigen
Summary: A modern P&P narrative, Lizzie's POV.
1. Chapter 1

A modern P&P narrative, that's all I'm about to say, you'll get the rest from the first chapter. English is not my first language so please excuse all my mistakes, I hope you'll understand what I'm writing :-)

Reviews are much appreciated and they'll help me going on.

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Chapter 1

All right, darling, lie still and I'll tell you a story, a fairytale. Close your eyes and listen…

I don't remember the weather on that particular day in August but I can clearly recall how it made me feel. Do you know the mornings when you wake up, don't bother doing your hair or make-up or anything and you just take the dog leash and go jogging with your dog? All you have in your head is the happy dog who seems to want to wag her tail off and you, you just jog till you drop.

Yeah, it was August and that means holidays. I successfully finished my second year of the Longbourn University where I've been studying English literature and I was enjoying loads and loads of free time. Every morning I would go jogging and it somehow made me feel happy and I felt nothing could go wrong. Rain or no rain, Squirrel and I ran our five miles and then I would go to work. Squirrel used to go everywhere with me, she was my dog assistant at that time.

I worked at the Longbourn library – the only library Longbourn has even nowadays. Small town, you know? I love books and that's why I studied English literature. I was lucky enough to actually have my school as a hobby – and don't look at me like that, young lady! One day you will love books too.

After work I would go swimming, to a party, shopping or I just sat in the park and was reading a book. Sometimes Jane, that's your aunt, sweetheart, would go with me and we would have the best times of our lives just talking, laughing and enjoying holidays.

On that day in the middle of August after work I and Jane went to pursue another of our hobbies and that was canine therapy. Why are you looking at me like this? Oh, you don't know what canine therapy is! Well, imagine that a dog becomes a doctor – he or she goes to see the patients and spends some time with them just to make them smile. I know it sounds strange for you now but believe me that sometimes the patients don't want to talk to anyone, they're sad and ill, they look bad and feel blue – and here comes the dog who doesn't judge how they look, doesn't ask how they feel and definitely the dog doesn't bring anymore pills or medical procedures, the dog just wants to be near them, cuddle with them and maybe get a cookie. I see it in your eyes that you don't believe a dog could be called a doctor. Well, think what you want but you should see how the elderly in our hospital revived when Squirrel bounced into their rooms! She loved people and would do anything to please them. She would have been a circus clown if she hadn't been a dog, I'm sure. When you spread your arms, she jumped up and you caught her and cuddled her as a baby – she loved it! Or you made kind of a gun of your fingers, pointed the index finger at her and said "Bang!" and she would drop dead, with just one eye opened to watch you. Then you clapped your hands and she was alive again! Imagine how the patients loved it! It looked so real except Squirrel was smiling all the time and sometimes when she thought she had been pretending long enough that she was dead, she started to wiggle her tail. You should hear the laughter of the elderly. Now, tell me, do you get the whole canine therapy thing? Good, I knew you would.

When we came to the hospital, to the part where the elderly patients were, there were young medics there. They were going with Dr. Carmichael from one patient to another a he was talking in this medical terminology which a normal person isn't able to understand. Dr. Carmichael smiled when he saw us, and waved his hand for us to come nearer.

"Here, let me introduce you our dog doctor, Squirrel," said he, and the medics looked either amused or incredulous.

"And, of course, her mistresses Elizabeth and Jane Bennet," he added with a wink.

Jane, who was always the one who did most of the speaking, said:

"Well, Squirrel is Lizzie's dog, I'm here just as an interpreter."

"Right," replied Dr. Carmichael and with "See you later, girls" he and his group of medics continued in their work.

In one of the rooms, there was a lady who didn't like dogs but she dearly loved to talk. Her lips were moving so quickly that I didn't have a chance to understand her and Jane wasn't able to sign everything the lady said so while Jane sat there and listened, I took Squirrel and we went to another room to other patients. There lay an old man who never spoke a word to us but every time we came he wanted Squirrel to jump to his bad so that he could feel her fur and cuddle with her. I stood with my back to the door so I didn't notice anyone entering the room and I continued talking to the man. Even though he never said anything, he seemed to like it when I was talking about Squirrel's latest adventures.

Suddenly someone grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. In front of me there stood an angry guy in his twenties and when I focused on his lips, I saw he asked why I didn't do as he said.

"Excuse me, Sir, I didn't hear you." I replied and with a smirk he retorted:

"Didn't hear me? What are you, deaf? I was speaking loud enough! Now get the animal and leave the room, I have to examine this patient."

I turned to the man in the bed and with "Excuse me, Sir, we have to go now but we'll see you next time, OK? Take care. Squirrel, wave your paw!" we made our way out of the room.

In the corridor, I saw Jane talking to one of the medics, a handsome redhead boy. Squirrel immediately ran to the young man and he knelt and started to talk to her as if she was a person.

"So you're the famous dog doctor here? All the patients talk about you!" and he continued but I wasn't able to make out what he was saying because I didn't see his lips. Then he turned to me and asked:

"Isn't it true?" And I looked at Jane to interpret.

Jane started signing as well as talking: "My sister Lizzie is deaf. Please, talk clearly and let her see your lips when you are speaking, she'll understand you then."

The redhead stood up and said, facing me:

"Uh, I was just saying that it's amazing how sometimes the dogs can heal what the doctors have given up on. My name is Charlie and I am a medic. So you are sisters," he continued, looking between me and Jane.

I looked at Jane and was taken aback by her expression. She was smiling like crazy and I have never seen her blushing so much! Oh god, she liked the boy!

"Yes, Lizzie is two years younger than me and she studies English literature," Jane introduced me. Then she addressed me and signed:

"Charlie wanted to know more about the canine therapy, do you think he could go to walk Squirrel with us sometime?" She usually both talked and signed so that I could read her lips.

Oh boy, never have I seen her so excited about a boy!

"Sure, why don't you and Charlie go out and wait for me, I and Squirrel will go to see the old lady over there and we'll come in a minute?" I proposed, knowing Jane and Charlie might appreciate some privacy. No, I'm not a matchmaker, how could you think something like that? OK, I admit I wanted to help our shy Jane a bit, so what?

Jane, blushing more than before if that's even possible, looked at Charlie who seemed very enthusiastic about spending more time with her and nodded her head.

"All right, and tell the lady I say Hi!" she said I smiled, walking the other way then Jane and her new friend.

When I met Jane and Charlie a half hour later in front of the hospital, they were so absorbed in their conversation they didn't notice me at first. I kept smiling like crazy, Jane was so cute and so was Charlie! They'd be perfect together, I thought, as I interrupted their talk with a Hi.

"Oh, you're here already!" cried Jane as if I were away just for two minutes. She was so cute! Charlie asked us to wait a bit for his friend, he wanted to introduce us or what. We talked about Squirrel and the hospital, when the guy who threw me out of that room earlier came. I just stared and so did he.

"This is my best friend, Will Darcy, he's also a medic." said Charlie, and than continued: "And Will, you remember Jane and Lizzie Bennet and, of course, Doctor Squirrel."

"Of course." replied Will, imitating Charlie's voice.

"Come on, Darcy, what's wrong this time?" asked Charlie because Will's tone didn't escape Charlie's notice.

"Nothing, can't I be just tired? Let's go to our flat, shall we?" And with that he turned on his heels and went away. Charlie just shrugged and apologized:

"He's not like this all the time, believe me. I'd better go or he'll jump out of his skin. I'll see you tomorrow, Jane. Nice to meet you both, bye." And he hurried after his friend.

There was a flip of paper in Jane's hand and I stared at her with my eyes wide.

"He gave you his number?!"

Jane blushed and looked down.

"Hey, way to go, girl, he seems great! He's easygoing and friendly – and he couldn't remove his look from you!"

"Oh gosh, Lizzie, you're exaggerating!"

I rolled my eyes and as I turned, I saw Charlie and Will at the bus stop not far away. I know I shouldn't have, but I read Will's lip just when he said:

"Yeah, the blonde girl is pretty, she's your type, I get it. But what about her sister? She's chuckleheaded or what? I was talking to her and she ignored me! And she didn't say a word when I told her to leave the room."

I couldn't see what Charlie answered but he must've said I was deaf because Will froze and his eyes wandered to me. He was very handsome and his green eyes seemed to absorb me. Now it was my time to blush.

Oh, look at the clock! All young ladies should be sleeping by now! Good night, sweetheart, I'll tell you more sometime later, promise. Good night.

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	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the amazing reviews, they keep me going!

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Chapter 2

And now, when we finally made it to the bed, what about a fairytale? Do you want to hear the one about the princess and the dragon? No? How so? It's your favorite! So which one do you want to hear tonight? Woof? What you mean by woof? Oh! I see, you want to hear about Squirrel! And where did we stop the last time? Oh, the green eyes…

So, when your aunt and I came home that day, all Jane could talk about was Charlie. I was happy for her, I really was, but sometimes she gets so excited and she daydreams good deal and I fear she will be disappointed by the reality. She is my older sister but I feel I have to look after her, she's such an angelic girl; she loves people and thinks the best about everyone. It's good to have her around, you know, she can make your day, and when you're down, she can lighten up the room and the world is a great place again, see?

And now she was so enthusiastic about Charlie and their date the next day and I feared he could easily break her heart if he didn't turn up. I didn't say a word though because those were my fears – you have to understand that I exactly wasn't the girl who would have five dates a week, you know. It isn't easy to talk to a guy who seems to like you, and when you say you're deaf, he goes:

"Uh, well… I'd better be going, I have homework to do…" Homework, my god! This was university and it was August…

Jane didn't have any problems as far as boys were concerned, she is so beautiful that one isn't surprised when boys on the streets turn their heads as she walks by. But she's shy and that makes it harder for her.

Anyway, I wished so much that Charlie would be her prince Charming, she deserved to be loved by a wonderful guy and he seemed wonderful to me. Oh, don't look at me this way, he wasn't my type at all!

I was saved by Squirrel. Jane's rambling made me feel dizzy, because it's not that easy to read her lips when she's talking like a machine gun… Squirrel got bored and brought me her water bowl. She does that when she drinks up all the water and wants some more. Thinking about water, I got a great idea that would both entertain Squirrel and save me from Jane's enumerating Charlie's virtues – and so I asked Squirrel:

"Shall we go swimming, Squirrel?" She immediately started to jump like crazy and before I had a chance to take the keys, she brought them together with her favorite water Frisbee. Sometimes I wondered how clever she was!

Jane waved us a goodbye and we set off to the nearest pond. You know, normally you have to tell do dog to stop at the crosswalk and after you look around and see there are no cars coming, you let the dog cross the street. Well, with Squirrel it was the other way round – she made me stop at the crossing, pricked up her ears and then she allowed me to cross the street. You have no idea how many times she saved my life when she didn't let me into the street and a moment later a car flied by so very fast…

We went by a newly built house with expensive flats, its own swimming pools and wonderful garden, well, more like a park then a garden, to be precise. Suddenly Squirrel froze and then jumped at me – she did that when something or someone needed my attention. I looked around and in the garden of that expensively looking house I saw Charlie and Will, and Charlie was waving and coming to us.

When he was near enough for me to read his lips, I asked: "Did you call me?" and he replied:

"Well, I called Squirrel, to be true, I thought…" and with an awkward smile he looked at his feet.

"It's OK, Charlie, people feel awkward before they get to know how to talk to me. It's OK when you call Squirrel, she'll let me know. But if you called my name, she'd know you were calling me and let me know as well."

Charlie looked more at ease and patted the dog, talking to her but making sure I could read his lips at the same time:

"You are such a clever dog, Squirrel! What else can you do?"

I replied: "Well, she can open and close the door when she's asked to. She warns me when the bell rings and brings me my cell phone when it starts ringing. I would be lost without her, you know."

When Charlie noticed Squirrel's Frisbee, he asked whether we were going to the pond and whether he and Will can come with us. I agreed, of course, even though I didn't exactly want to spend any time with Will; and you can imagine he wasn't too eager himself. But we all went together and I was talking with Charlie most of the time. As we were walking, Charlie suddenly said:

"Oh, I left my cell in the garden, I'll be right back, keep going, I'll catch you in a minute." And with that he left me and Will alone, both as unhappy about the current situation as could be.

I am used to awkward moments, believe me, but I tried for Charlie's sake to get on with his friend, so I said:

"How long have you and Charlie been friends?" He looked at me as if had three heads, and looking in front of himself he said something I wasn't able to make out.

"I didn't understand you, sorry." I said apologetically, walking slightly before him to see his lips. "Could you please say it again?"

He smirked and mumbled something. I was getting angry because who was he to look down on me like that? Fortunately, we'd come to the pond meanwhile, and I started to throw the Frisbee far to the water. Squirrel happily swam for and forth and seeing her so frenetic made me smile too. Oh, how much I wanted to swim there with her but I felt it'd be awkward if I stripped to the bikini in front of Will with no one around. In fact, I would forget about him if Squirrel didn't get that insane idea to bring the Frisbee to him and, imagine it, shake all the water from her fur at him. If I weren't shocked and frighten by his deadly expression, I'd laugh my head off, but I could hardly breathe.

In that moment, Squirrel started to wiggle her tail and I followed her gaze and saw Charlie – and Jane! When they came nearer, Jane signed that Charlie messaged her he was going swimming to the pond and whether she wanted to join in, and, needless to say, she willingly agreed.

Charlie apparently wasn't scared by Will's expression and enthusiastically proposed:

"Darcy, let's jump in there, the water's cool, it'd be fun!" And while he was talking to Will, he stripped and in his trunks he ran into the water. He was behaving like a five year old but his enthusiasm rubbed off on Jane and me and in no time all three of us were playing with Squirrel in the water.

Will retorted: "We have a swimming pool, Charles, for god's sake! Nothing will make me get into the water where the stupid animal is swimming!"

I couldn't take it any longer. If someone insults me, OK, I can cope with it, but if he insults my dog, I'd readily jump at his throat, believe me! I stood up in the water, made several steps towards Will and said:

"The animal, as you call her, has a name, Squirrel, and it is a dog. If you don't know what a dog is, go back to the kindergarten, you smartass! She's a great help to me and is better behaved than you, get it?" And I turned around so that I couldn't see what he was saying.

From the expression on Charlie's and Jane's faces I saw that Will said nothing and left; Jane and Charlie, they both were looking at me, utterly speechless.

I came to them and said sorry, for I felt I ruined their day. But Charlie smiled and said:

"No way, you were great! Will needs someone to ground him from time to time. He's a good guy but sometimes he's being an ass."

Then, addressing both me and Jane, he shouted:

"Anyway, catch me if you can!" And swam off.

You can imagine that I did all I could to play with Squirrel while Jane and Charlie enjoyed themselves. No, I'm saying it again, young lady, I am not a matchmaker! Anyway, I've been talking long enough; now close your eyes and sweet dreams. Yes, of course I'll continue tomorrow. Good night!

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	3. Chapter 3

This chapter introduces one of my most favorite characters of both the book and the movies, hope you'll enjoy it too.

Thank you for reading it, it's nice to see how many hits this story gets. To those who reviewed: Thank you, thank you, thank you, you're great and it means a lot to me!

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Chapter 3

Wow, we managed to get you to the bed in a record time tonight! Mummy will now go talk to Daddy, OK? Good ni… What? No, no, no, don't sit up, dearie, lay down and close your eyes. A dale? What dale? Oh, you mean "a tale"? You really need to learn to pronounce clearly because I have a hard time understanding you. Or you know what, I'll teach you how to sign "a tale", agreed? Sit up, right. Now, hold your hands as if you wanted to clap them, yes, hold your palms close, almost touching. Now draw your palms apart and at the same time make circles of your thumbs and index fingers, as when you sign "OK". Yeah, that's it! And if you make this sign several times, like three times or so, that's the sign for a tale! Yes, precisely like this, you're a very clever girl, darling!

And now the tale… You want to know how it went on with Charlie and your aunt? And with that dreadful Darcy boy? I am amazed that you're interested in it at all but here we go:

Jane and Charlie were going out every day, and Janey darling asked me everytime whether I wanted to come with them. Sure I wanted to go out but a date in three? Weird. So I kept saying I was busy, which was more or less was true. Our voluntary center, you know, the one at the Longbourn hospital, was trying to get a grant so that we had some money to spend on things for our dogs and activities for the patients.

Now you'll probably laugh but we wanted other animals to be a part of the therapy – and we wanted to start with giant snails and walking leaves. A walking leaf? Well, that's an insect that looks like a tree leaf or a little tree branch. If it wants to, it can be invisible. No, it doesn't disappear, it just looks so similar to a branch or a leaf that you think you are looking at a leaf and not at an insect. Funny, I know. And we wanted our children patient to know such animals. We wanted them to know how to look after such a small thingy, we wanted them to know they didn't need to be scared of it. And the giant snails? Imagine a snail that is as big as my fist or even bigger. Huge one, isn't it?

So I spent the majority of my free time looking up information about snails and walking leaves, I also kept writing to various voluntary organizations in other countries whether they had experience with this kind of therapy. Not that easy, believe me, and it consumed a lot of my time.

One day our voluntary center organized a Dog Day for children of the Longbourn hospital and I was helping with organization, while Squirrel kept circulating among the kids and they kept throwing balls to her.

Then, when I hadn't seen Squirrel for some time and was curious where she was, I looked around and what I saw made me smile. Across the atrium, on the other side than where I was standing, there was a girl on a wheelchair and in front of her, there sat Squirrel. The girl turned her head and looked away, then Squirrel moved so that she was facing the girl's face. The girl looked away again and Squirrel walked around her again and sat down facing her. When this was going on for some time, I got curious. Squirrel was a patient dog, she really was, but then again there were so many other children she could play with and she was crazy about fetching a ball, yet there she was, sitting patiently in front of a little girl on a wheelchair, moving just to face the girl everytime the girl looked away. I approached them and when Squirrel noticed me, she started to wiggle her tail but didn't move one bit. I squatted down next to Squirrel and addressed the girl:

"Hi, I'm Lizzie and this is Squirrel, my dog. And what is your name?"

"Georgiana," answered the girl and bit her lip.

"I guess you don't like dogs," I tried to strike up a conversation, while I was surveying Georgiana. She was about nine or ten years old, had long curly blond hair that fell all over her in tiny rings, and with that big sky-blue eyes of hers she looked as a princess from a fairy tale.

"I… I do…" admitted she with a hint of hesitation, and added: "But my brother says I shouldn't."

"Why on Earth you shouldn't like dogs, I wonder!"

"Because they live too short," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.

"Well, it's true that the dogs live shorter than people but they are so amazing friends that it's better to have one for, what you call, short time than don't have any, don't you think?" I tried to be reasonable with her because she seemed a very clever girl. She thought for a moment about what I'd just said, and then asked:

"But why do they live so short if they're so amazing?" Indeed she was clever and surely she loved to debate, to know why things are the way they are. I like people who ask "but why?" instead of just accepting what you tell them.

"Someone once told me," I replied, "that people live so long to know how to love others and how to be good to everyone. Maybe dogs learn all this quicker so they don't have to stay here as long as people."

Thinking about what I'd said, Georgiana watched Squirrel.

"Do you want her to come to you?" I asked and after an inward battle with herself, Georgiana nodded. I pointed my index finger on Squirrel and signed that she come. She did and obediently sat next to Georgiana. But the girl's eyes were flitting between me and Squirrel and with an interrogative look she cried:

"Whoa, whoa! What was it that you have just done?"

"I signed for her to come, why?"

"Why didn't you _tell_ her?" Georgiana asked.

I smiled – she was a very good observer and I liked her.

"She knows all the commands both spoken and signed."

Narrowing her eyes, she started:

"But…"

And I finished: "But why? Because I'm deaf, that means I can't hear anything."

She looked utterly speechless. Squirrel, when she got bored and thought no one had been paying her attention for too long, placed her ball into Georgiana's lap and then made few steps back. The girl threw the ball behind herself and not removing her eyes from me, she asked:

"But how is it possible that you talk to me and… and you know what I'm saying… and how…?"

I had to laugh because she was so cute, so curious! So while she was throwing balls to Squirrel, I explained:

"It's true I can't hear a word from what you're saying but I can read your lips. From the way your lips are moving when you speak, from the gestures, your mimics and the context, I can guess what you're saying. And you speak clearly, you pronounce well so it's not so difficult. Sometimes I don't understand long or complicated word, and if you said just 'a log' or 'a dog', I wouldn't know which one you mean. But considering we're talking about dogs all the time, I know there's no reason for you to say 'a log'. Is it clear?"

She nodded and I continued: "Actually, it's not that hard to learn to read lips. If you have time, turn on the TV and turn down the voice so that you barely hear it. You'll hear some of the words and if you look at the speaker's lips intently, you'll be able to guess the rest."

"But you don't hear cars," she said, still shocked. "You can't hear music! And how do you know when the bell rings? Or that someone calls you?" She really was inquisitive but I liked it because it's more agreeable when people are interested in my way of communicating than if they look down on me as if I was retarded or not worth their time.

"That's why I have Squirrel, she lets me know, she's my ears," I smiled.

"I'm sorry you can't hear music," she said more to herself than to me.

"So am I, but you know what, when the music is loud enough, I can feel the beats so I have a slight idea how it must sound if one can hear it."

"I play the piano," she informed me proudly.

"Do you? That's amazing! When I place my hands on the desk of the piano, I feel the vibrations of it." I realized we talked as if we knew one another for years, and I was surprised how relaxing it was to talk to someone who was twelve or thirteen years younger than I was. And Georgiana seemed to enjoy it too.

"Hey, Lizzie, we have a piano in our playroom, could I play for you sometime?" She got so excited it'd be hard to say no – and not that I even thought of disappointing her.

"Sure! It'll be great! I'll take Squirrel and we'll come to visit you. Where's you room, Georgiana?"

"Umm, Lizzie, could you call me 'Georgie', please? My parents used to call me Georgiana… And…"

She swallowed and then said: "We're at the fifth floor," and casting a glance to her lifeless legs she added, "traumatology department."

"Great, we'll stop by as soon as we can!" And even though I noticed the change in her eyes and I heard her saying 'used to call', I didn't push her into explaining it.

She smiled happily and patted Squirrel.

"Do you have any other animals, Lizzie?" She was back herself again.

"Oh, I don't but we want to get some walking leaves and snails – and teach the children patients about them."

"That sounds exciting! So you'll have to buy everything for it, an aquarium and a terrarium, you'll need some branches and leaves…"

Wide-eyed I watched her.

"How do you know all this?!"

Looking smugly, she answered: "I have both walking leaves and giant snails at home. And hamsters, rabbits, two cats and a ferret. My brother's looking after them while I'm here." With a devilish smile she added: "Or at least I hope he is!" And we both laughed.

I was interested in the topic so I asked: "Will you teach me? I'd like to know more about them and you seem a pro."

She blushed and shyly replied: "I'm not a pro but I could teach you few things, sure. I have some pict…"

Not finishing her sentence, she apparently cried out to someone who stood behind me.

"Brother!" she cried happily.

And as I turned around, to my total awe I was facing the amazingly green eyes once again…

Oh, you're already sleeping, my angel? Let me whisper a good night to you, and may you have sweet dreams.

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Reviews are much appreciated, they keep me going. Thank you :-)


	4. Chapter 4

A note for those who wonder about the whole "deaf thing", particularly for TwilightStarLaughter who asked (thank you for being curious about it, I like when people think about what I write, and when they ask when they want to know more; thank you again!):

I'm not deaf, nor I have anyone in my closest family but I studied the sign language and the issues of the interaction of the deaf and the hearing people. People are either born deaf or they lose their ability to hear during their life (an accident, illness…). The second group has it seemingly easier, they once learned to speak, to pronounce properly and so they are able to speak even if they don't hear themselves nor anyone else. The first group, well – some of them decide not to speak at all and they just sign. Or they may go to special schools and there they learn how to speak. I was once told how the deaf learn the letter G (as in "frog'). Basically, they are making kind of a growling noise in their throat and simultaneously the teacher touches or taps their throat on the Adam's apple until the pupil finally says "g". Not easy, takes a lot of time, some people can't do it – but some people try so hard until they learn how to say every phone (letter) and then they learn to speak.

I once had a teacher who was deaf, she was 28 or so, and I my jaw hit the floor when she, after an hour of speaking with us and teaching us to sign, said that she was deaf and had been all life. Believe me, with some people you would never know if they didn't tell you.

Any other questions? I'd be happy to answer, either in the story (Georgie's legs, Darcy's being an ass, etc.) or in a note or via e-mail.

Thank you for the reviews, I appreciate it because there's no other way for me to know what you think.

And now, let's move on with the tale!

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Chapter 4

Sweetie, you fell asleep the last time when I was telling you a fairy tale… Yeah, sure, that's how it is supposed to be but... But aren't you too clever for such a little girl? Anyway, I was talking about Georgie, the little girl on the wheelchair. Oh, you remember it? Great!

I immediately recognized the green eyes when I turned around, and in those eyes there was something between confusion, embarrassment – and anger. But he kept looking at me so intently!

Georgie looked between me and Will and then probably said something because Will awoke from the trance and hugged her.

"I see no introduction is needed," Georgie said with an amused smile, after she saw Will and I behaving so awkward around each other – or at least I thought it was awkward.

To save us both from other embarrassing moments, I addressed Georgie:

"Honey, it was great to meet you and we'll definitely stop by as soon as we can. Practise the piano, will you?" I hugged the little girl and asked Squirrel:

"Shall we go now? Squirrel, say good bye!" My darling dog held up one paw and barked – that always made people laugh. I wasn't surprised by Georgie's happy smile, but what astonished me was Will! On the face of the guy there actually appeared something that could perhaps be mistaken for a smile; and I knew the guy well enough to know he didn't smile ever!

The Dog Day was slowly ending and while Squirrel was escorting the patients to their wards, I and other volunteers were organizing, tidying and cleaning.

I was leaving in a cheerful mood, I loved the Dog Days. Never have I seen so many smiles and happy eyes as during the Dog Days! I kept thinking about Georgie and her clever questions. And I wasn't able to get Will off my mind, though it wasn't exactly a positive thing to think about, believe me.

And then the beginning of September came and with it Jane's birthday. Here I must mention one thing – our family is in no way normal! Your grandmother, dearie, is, well… She's the craziest person you'll ever see – without exaggeration – but that's why we love her so much. Her opinions, philosophy of life or her lifestyle are diametrically different from mine, and if I should live under one roof with her, I'd probably very soon run out of the door and screaming and pulling my hair out I'd jump down from the nearest cliff. But there were no cliffs in Meryton – that's where we grew up – and truth be told, if there weren't for our mum, the life back there and then would be dull.

Birthdays, Christmases and other holidays were without an exception spent in the family circle and that was something Jane and I dreaded. Jane wanted to have a party with our friends and mother was excited about throwing a party for dozens of young people. Thank god for our father, your granddaddy, who saw the disaster coming and got the genius idea to invite our family to a fancy Italian restaurant for a family celebration. We had the greatest lunch ever, mum didn't have to worry about cooking and Jane and I could stop panicking. If it came to embarrassing us, our mother was the queen, and not having the parents at Jane's party was more than desirable.

Do you want to hear about the party, sweetheart?

It was a Friday night, 3rd September, and Jane had invited about thirty friends most of which I knew from school or hospital. Jane studied teaching, she wanted to be a university teacher of English, and that's why we had some of the subjects together, though Jane was in the third year and I in the second. What I loved about being a university student was the possibility to arrange your schedule and chose the majority of your seminars and lectures.

Anyway, apart form the people from the class mates and hospital volunteers there was Charlie, his sister and a few of his friends; to my displeasure Will was there too.

Charlotte came – she's my best friend – and we kind of provided the catering for the party. We bought drinks, food, chips, sweets, coffee – everything – and we were stocking the tables the whole night.

Jane was enjoying herself and I was so happy to see her, well, happy. She talked to people, laughed a lot and was radiating such a joyous atmosphere around herself!

We were standing around a table with sandwiches and chips, when Charlie waved at me to get my attention. He asked:

"Liz, will you teach me to say 'thank you' in sign language?"

I shrugged, "Sure." But it delighted me, him trying to learn something in "my language".

"It's actually very easy. You have to touch your mouth with the fingertips of your hand… Oh, no, no, no… You have to stretch the fingers, a flat hand, yes, exactly!" He was cute and we all laughed. I continued:

"Yep, you touch your mouth and then you move your hand forward until the palm's facing up like this." And I showed him.

"See, she's right, it's easy!" Charlie screamed happily. He was so enthusiastic about everything!

Is it necessary to say he then used his signed "thank you" everytime he could? It was funny.

Jane dearly loves to dance and that's why Charlotte brought the Hi-Fi stereo and played some music – and it was so loud that even I could feel the floor vibrating.

Charlie danced with Jane almost all the time and you should've seen them together! God, they were like two suns, smiling, laughing, touching. I envied them, sure I did, but more than that I was happy for them.

I danced too… Oh, indeed I can dance! What's so difficult about it? You just move along the music – and I just moved along, so to speak. I felt the beats so I knew the rhythm. And besides, dancing is fun, you can't take it too seriously!

I danced with Frankie, my classmate and a great friend, and with Charlie. The guy was amazing, he took my hands and told me to follow his steps – and we danced! God, that was amazing!

It was time to make buckets of coffee and Charlotte and I set off for the kitchen, when I noticed Will and Charlie talking behind the glass door.

"Hey, Darce, I've never been to a better party! I love the flat, the music, the food the people…"

Charlie could get as excited as Jane, I smiled. But the bored Mr. Darcy the Great made me frown even before he opened his mouth. And when he did…

"Heavens, Charles, what are you, a five-year-old? Feed him, play some music and let him dance – and he'll be happy! For god's sake, what do you see on it?"

"Darcy, you take yourself too seriously. Go have fun! Get a life! Why don't you go dancing? It'll relax you."

With a smirk Will replied: "Like with whom? Your sisters? Give me a break! I avoid Caroline as much as possible, sorry, Charlie, but she's a nightmare!"

Charlie didn't seem offended at all, eve though Will wasn't speaking about his sister kindly at all. He seemed nothing could ruin his evening.

"What about Jane's sister, Lizzie? She's a great girl, you'd like her. and she dances very well."

I had to smile, Charlie was a darling! But then Mr. I'm So Great open his mouth again…

"She's deaf, Charles, that means she doesn't hear, if you hadn't noticed. I won't make a fool of myself just to make her feel like a normal person."

The disdain, the contempt in his eyes… I felt as if someone pushed me into my stomach. That hurt, Mr. Darcy, that really hurt, even from and ass as you are.

Yet I was surprised by Charlie's reaction, and so was Darcy.

"Oh my god, Darcy! You like her!" He started to laugh like crazy and before Will had a chance to say anything, Charlie went off, laughing his head off.

Even though I knew Charlie was totally wrong with his assumption, I was pleased to see that Darcy was left speechless, stunned, shaken.

He noticed I was watching him and when he looked me in the eye, I saw horror in his eyes and I'd swear he was thinking whether I knew what they'd been talking about. I couldn't help it and I waved at him with an evil smile, turned around and helped Charlotte with the coffee.

God knows we needed plenty of coffee…

And now, let's call it a day, we'll continue tomorrow, darling. Kiss your mum good night – and sweet dreams…

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Thank you very much for reading; if you have questions, feel free to ask. To those who reviewed and will review - you're the best and I can't express how thankful I am!


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for reading the story so far! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, even though there's nothing much about our dearly beloved Mr. Darcy.

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Chapter 5

Look, young lady, how many times do I have to tell you to get out of the bath? You aren't a fish, you can't spend the rest of your life in a bath! You know what? If you're out of the bath and in your pajamas, tucked in your bed in five minutes, I'll tell you more of the fairy tale. If you're not… Hey! Why do we use towels?! You can't put on your pajamas until you're dry!

Oh well, so the story goes on…

There's not much else to say about the Jane's party. I didn't speak with Will any more that night, and after everyone left, I fell on my bed and fell asleep even before my head hit the pillow.

Two days later I and Squirrel went to visit Georgie. She was lying on her bed on her stomach and was reading. She didn't hear us coming until Squirrel came to her head and nudged her with her muzzle.

"Oh my god, Squirrel, you came!" Georgie immediately sat on her bed and stretched her arms to hug me.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Georgie!" I said as I sat down on the bed next to her. Before I even had a chance to say something, Squirrel jumped up to Georgie's bed and laid her head into Georgie's lap.

"How have you been?" I asked her.

"Well, I'm bored out of my mind, but I've made some progress with my legs. The doctor says I'll be able to walk if I practice. They take me to a swimming pool every day, I go to the gym four times a week and every morning a physiotherapist comes and exercises my legs. It's demanding, but hey, if it's good for me… Now I'm able to move my legs a bit, which is more than I could do two weeks ago!"

I hugged her again because she was such a warrior!

"You're a brave girl, honey, you'll be walking soon again."

"Hey, Lizzie, I was wondering, why do you call your dog Squirrel?" She asked with a smile, and I knew she wanted to change the topic.

"Oh, look at her, she's red, her ears stick out and her tail looks like a feather boa! When I saw her for the first time when she was a puppy, she reminded me of a squirrel – and the patients remember her name easily." I explained.

"And you said you wanted other animals…" There we were getting to her favorite topic, you see?

"Sure, and you said you could help me." I answered.

She got all excited and started to enumerate things I'll need to buy for snails, various insects, hamsters and other little animals until I had to wave my hands at her and stop her because I wasn't able to follow her. She was speaking so fast!

"Whoa, whoa, girl, slow down, I don't understand a word from what you're saying!" She smiled apologetically and calmed down.

Then I got an idea, a crazy idea which might make her brother want to kill me but still…

"Georgie, do they allow you out of the hospital? I mean like for a whole afternoon?" I asked.

Her reaction was immediate – and stronger than I expected. Her eyes went wide, she looked at me as if I just asked her to fly to the Moon with me – and stuttering, she said:

"You mean… Like… But… You mean that you'd… No way!"

I had to laugh.

"Sure, if the doctor allows you to go, and if your brother approves, we could go shopping for the aquariums and all these things together."

She hugged me a held me tight; I started to wonder whether the poor girl has been out of the hospital at all since she was injured.

She answered my unasked question when she let go of me.

"My brother takes me to his and Charlie's flat on the weekends sometimes, so it shouldn't be a problem with the doctor." She stopped, and then added: "But my brother… He's overprotective. Maybe I could ask him to come with us?" She suggested, devilish smile upon her lips.

Uh oh, the plan backfired. Darcy going shopping with us? Heavens forbid!

"Uh, Georgie, do you think it's necessary? You may have noticed your brother doesn't exactly like me…"

"Nonsense! He was here yesterday and he asked all about you! He said Charlie dates your sister, is it true?"

I was astonished by her – she talked to me as teenager, asking for the newest and hottest gossips… And I couldn't help but ask:

"Georgie, how old are you?"

"I'm twelve," she replied, straightening a bit.

"Twelve?! I would've guessed nine or ten! You look very young, yet you speak so clever!"

She was out of words, and was probably contemplating whether to feel insulted or pleased. I assured her:

"It is a positive thing, sweetie, I just wanted to say you're very clever for your age."

She smiled and got back to our previous topic.

"So, is your sister a nice girl? Because Charlie is like my brother and very often he's too generous for his own good. I don't want him to end up with some…"

"Uh, chill out, missy! When you'll meet Jane, you'll see it for yourself that they'd be perfect for one another."

"OK," said she and we high-fived.

"And now," I stood up, "you promised to play the piano for me!"

Her eyes lit up and she cried out: "You remembered!"

"You bet!" And with that I helped her to the wheelchair and took her to the playroom. Four or five children were sitting there on the floor, playing with their mums or with the nurses. I drove Georgie to the piano and then I went to the other side of the instrument and placed my palms on it. As she began to play, I closed my eyes and abandoned myself to the slight vibrations of the piano.

It was as if thousands of little ants were tickling my palms, some were so soft I hardly felt them but some were beating against my palms. I wanted to hear the tones and when I concentrated very, very hard, I felt – sensed – it with my palms. After some time the playing stopped and having my eyes still shut, I said:

"That was absolutely amazing!" I opened my eyes a saw the astonishment in Georgie's eyes.

"You really _did_ feel it?!"

I nodded.

"Oh my god! I though you just said it to make happy… But you knew when I finished even without opening your eyes!" She just couldn't believe it.

"Of course I did, why would I lie about it?"

I looked to the door and there stood Will, watching us and not moving. When I saw him, I waved my hand – we didn't part on good terms but for Georgie's sake I was trying to be as friendly as possible.

Will smiled and waved too. I couldn't stand that guy for what he'd said about me but when he smiled, my knees weakened. I felt… Uh oh, never mind what I felt, he was an ass!

Georgie noticed her brother after I waved at him, and she called out to him. I took the holds of the wheelchair and drove her to Will. When we were almost there, I whispered do her ear:

"Don't forget to ask him – but remember, he doesn't like me!"

Georgie just smiled that devilish smile of hers and nodded.

When we came to him, I called off Squirrel because she'd head to him for a pat and I knew better than that. The guy just didn't want to be near "that animal"…

I hugged Georgie and nodded at Will, who nodded back – which was more than I expected from him – and Squirrel and I headed home.

I was at the door leading from the department when a thought hit me and I stopped still. What was it that Georgie said? Her brother "asked all about me"?!

I turned around just to see the two siblings at the other end of the corridor. Will looked at me and for the shortest time I had the feeling that he smiled.

Which is, uh, which is all you'll hear tonight, my little angel, and now you'll close your eyes and you'll dream the sweetest dreams. G'night.

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And for you, my dear readers, I have a question which I need you to answer as soon as possible because I'll write the next chapter after I know your opinion:

**Should Darcy go shopping with them and should we thus have more interaction between him and Liz? Or should they go without him and have time to gossip, because Lizzie might learn something about Darcy from Georgie? I need you to tell me your opinion.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I thought that you'll help me to decide how to write the shopping part and you know what? It's fifty-fifty, three of you want Darcy to come with them, three don't and two want both or can't decide. Now what? I hope you'll like my version... And that you'll review after you read it. Thank you for the suggestions and for your support!**

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Chapter 6

Once upon a time, there lived a king and he had two daughters... What? No, my father isn't a king, why would you ask? Oh, I see! But I wasn't talking about your granddaddy and about me and Jane! I wanted to tell you the tale about the two princesses... But you're right, we should finish the previous one first. But I'll talk about Georgie and there won't be much of Squirrel, if that is okay with you? So, let see what happened next!

For the next few days after my visit to Georgie I was too busy to call on her again. I've told you I worked at the Longbourn library, haven't I? And when the school year started for the elementary and secondary schools, the students started to roll in to borrow the books for their assignments. The students are so enthusiastic in the beginnings of the school years! It wears off in less then a month though...

Everyday I would stay in the library till evening to put the books where they should be, to organize the shelves, make orders for new books or order the books that students needed from other libraries around the world. The first two weeks in September were busy but then it all got back to normal and I had some free time.

I took Squirrel and we went to visit our little friend Georgie. The door to her room was closed so I knocked and entered – and froze. Will Darcy was sitting next to his sister's bed, talking and _laughing_ with her!

When Georgie saw me, evidently she shrieked because Will jumped up in his chair. I hugged the little lady and greeted Will. When Squirrel jumped on Georgie's bed, Will opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but Georgie frowned at him and he closed his mouth without saying a word.

Feeling awfully awkward around the guy, I addressed Georgie:

"So, little missy, how have you been? Have you practiced the piano? Oh, wait, the school has started! How's your teacher?"

She rolled her eyes and said: "That was the first question Will asked me when he came! The school is boring! And to have one teacher who I don't know for every subject is awful!"

Will remarked: "Oh, that's precious! Our little missy is coming to her pubescence! Run for your lives everyone!"

Do I have to tell you I didn't recognize the guy's behavior? Was he his own twin or what?

Georgie smirked.

"Will you stop calling me 'little missy'?" she asked and added: "BOTH of you!"

I had to laugh even though I saw Will's piercing look and that scared me a bit. Was he looking at me so intently because he had been caught addressing Georgie in the same way as I did?

To ease the atmosphere, I asked:

"So, _Georgie_, have you asked your brother whether you can go shopping with me?"

And I kept watching her, not daring to look at Will. From Georgie's excited expression I knew the answer even before she opened her mouth.

"You bet I did! At first he wasn't too enthusiastic about it..." she cast a scolding look at him, and then continued: "But when I promised to exercise my legs more and without protests, and after I vowed to take the school seriously – he agreed!" She finished happily.

"Wow!" was all I could say. Will knew how to motivate his sister and I liked it. "And when are we going?" I asked Georgie.

With a sarcastic smirk she retorted: "I have all the time in the world, Liz!"

I jumped up a bit when Will touched my arm, and he blushed.

"Uh, where... Where exactly is the pet shop to which you are going?" he asked me, after he regained his composure.

Did the guy really touched my arm and spoke to me? Because if you want to catch the attention of a deaf person, you usually touch him. Oh, I know you know that – but I didn't have an idea _he_ did!

"Oh, there's one that is pretty well stocked in the north suburbs when you go to Meryton. It's a bit far, I know..." I turned to Georgie and continued: "But I have looked up which bus goes there. It goes once in every two hours but if we plan it well, we shouldn't..."

Again, Will touched my arm and this time I didn't freak out.

"I'll take you there by my car," he said.

"Oh, that's not necessary, the buses are all low-rise so we can handle it and I'm sure you have other things..."

He interrupted me: "I insist."

But you know what, sweetie, he didn't say it with that usual bossy expression of his. He actually said it quite gently, not to impose on us but to make it easier. All in all, he was right, why complicate it?

"All right," I replied, but then a thought occurred to me: "But I need Squirrel to come with us..." And I expected him to change his mind about the whole trip.

But he answered calmly: "Sure, no problem. Will she be able to sit with you in the front?"

"Sure, she's used to it, she sits there when we go somewhere with Jane."

While we were talking, Georgie was watching us intently, her eyes flitting between me and Will, and she was smiling knowingly. I turned to her and yelped:

"What are you smiling at, kiddo?"

Still smiling she shook her head and said: "Nothing. Absolutely nothing..."

I cast a questioning look at Will and he just shrugged.

We agreed that we'd go on Thursday and would meet in the car park at 2 pm. After that I chatted a bit with Georgie while Will was talking a little or not at all, and when I thought I'd had enough of Will's looking at me, Squirrel and I said good bye and went home.

You know, for a moment I was starting to think that Will was a normal guy – he was so nice to Georgie and even to me, he talked to me without grimacing and rolling his eyes... But then, as if he became his old self, he just kept watching me, frowning.

I assumed he must've been schizophrenic.

Excuse me? What did you say? Oh, you don't know what "schizophrenic" means? That's when someone behaves as two different persons without even realizing it. Clear? Okay then. Where did we stop? The trip, sure.

When Thursday came, I combed Squirrel because I didn't want her to leave her hairs in Will's car, and we arrived to the hospital car park five minutes before the set time. To my surprise, Georgie and her brother were already there.

After greeting us, Will said almost apologetically:

"Georgie was so impatient that we've been here for fifteen minutes..." And I was expecting him to be angry that I hadn't come earlier but he just smiled and led us to his car.

I admit I should've start wondering where a guy of twenty-five or so got money for buying such a car but since it suited Will's snobbish nature, I considered it normal. Maybe their parents were giving him disgustingly high pocket money?

I also admit I should've wonder why Will's car was parked at the VIP section of the car park – but again, nothing seemed as surprising to me as Will's good humor that day.

The ride didn't take us long and when Will parked the car in front of the biggest pet center in Longbourn, I opened the door to get out of the car, when Will patted Squirrel, and looking at his lips, I saw him saying:

"Good dog, you're a good dog!"

He must've noticed my surprised expression because he cleared his throat and said:

"So, when shall I come back for you? Will two hours be enough?"

I awoke from the trance and replied: "Uhm, sure. Where will you go?"

He shrugged, helped Georgie to her wheelchair and then turned back to me.

"Look, Georgie's got her phone with her but I'd feel better if I had your number and you had mine, just in case something happened..." I had a hard time understanding him because he was mumbling but I nodded and let him type his number to my phone. Then I gave him my number and we left for the pet shop.

The minute we were inside and out of Will's sight, I turned Georgie so that she was facing me and bluntly asked her:

"So what was that about?"

She averted her eyes and mumbled "I dunno what you're talking 'bout."

"Georgie, you know exactly what I am talking about! What did you say to him that he has been behaving so nicely to me?"

She pouted: "Nothing, I swear! But he was asking a lot about you... Like how I talk to you and whether you are nice to me and everything..."

"Why shouldn't I be nice to you?"

"I don't know! But he's overprotective, you know?" She looked at me and smiling cheekily she said: "I think my brother likes you."

I burst out laughing.

"And may I ask you how have you come to a conclusion like this?"

She started enumerating points on her fingers: "First, he's nervous when you're around..."

"That's because I'm deaf," I interrupted her.

Not acknowledging my reasoning, she continued: "Second, he blushes when you're around," and when she saw I was going to say something, she added: "Or even when you're not around and we're just talking about you."

"Talking about me?"

"Third, _the look._"

Staring at her as if she was absolutely out of her senses I asked:

"_What_ look?!"

"_That_ look!" she replied as if she was telling me the most obvious thing ever.

All I could do was to stare at her – was she nuts?!

Then she put on her angelic smile and innocently asked: "Shall we go shopping?"

I turned the wheelchair and drove her to the shelves with terrariums and aquariums. As we were talking about the pet things, food and other things, I couldn't stop thinking about Georgie's assumptions. I knew she was wrong but then again – if you thought of it – could it, perhaps, in a very loony way, make sense?

No way, Will was being nice to me just because of Georgie. With this resolution I put it out of my mind and finished the shopping.

When we were done, I proposed we could go to a near patisserie to have a snack, which Georgie more than welcomed. We left all the things we bought at the counter and asked the shop assistant to guard it until we come for it and put it into the car.

Before we headed to the patisserie, I asked Georgie one thing that had been bothering me for a long time.

"Hey, Georgie, why doesn't your brother like dogs?"

She frowned and said: "He does, I'd say. But when I was small, Will had this wonderful dog, a husky he called Dingo. He loved the dog, and he trained him and it was his and his only dog. Dingo wasn't old but he died, and no one knew why. I was four and Will seventeen then. Will didn't cry at all – but he kept blaming everyone for Dingo's death. He didn't talk much and foreswore not to have another dog ever..."

What do you say to something like this? I understood Will and I felt sorry for him but I didn't know how to explain it to the little girl. She saved me when she added:

"But I don't know remember Dingo much..."

I decided it was the highest time to have a snack and we entered the patisserie. Georgie needed to go to the bathroom and when I asked her how I could help her, she assured me she could handle it herself, so I went to order our drinks.

Having ordered a chocolate milkshake for Georgie and a latté for myself, I headed to the garden from which we could see the whole street and watch the people walking there.

I instantly recognized a familiar figure, though I could see only his back. I spoke to get his attention:

"Will, what are you doing here?"

He didn't answer.

"Will?" I tried again but he didn't move.

I touched his shoulder and he immediately turned and looked at me, surprise in his eyes.

"You didn't hear me..." I started but then he reached to his ears – and took out two earplugs.

"Excuse me, I didn't... I didn't hear you..." He said, standing up.

I was confused.

"Why did you have earplugs in your ears?"

Will blushed, good heavens how he blushed, and not looking at me he answered:

"I wanted to know how it feels not to hear anything..."

I stared at him with my mouth open. Will Darcy wanted to know how it felt to be deaf?!

We stood there, looking at one another, not knowing what to say or what to do. He was watching me with those wonderfully green eyes of his and I couldn't tear myself from his gaze. My brain stopped working when millions of thoughts and feelings came through it. My knees were weak and my heart kept thumping against my chest that I was sure it'd jump off.

Suddenly Will looked away and caught my arm to turn me so that I saw what he was looking at. There was Georgie, who apparently had said something to Will before he noticed her.

She looked from him to me, raised her brows but didn't say anything. Then she drove her wheelchair to the table and started to drink her milkshake, chatting happily about what we'd bought.

I finally let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and eagerly joined her in the conversation. I didn't dare to look at Will and neither did he to look at me. I had no idea what just happened.

Now, must I mention he didn't speak a word to me on our way back to the hospital? Not that I felt like speaking to him...

You have no idea how tense – and awkward – the rest of our trip was.

But I think you've had enough of a fairy tale and you'll sleep now. Oh I know you will sleep! If you won't, there will be no fairy tale tomorrow! That's a good girl... Good night.

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**And you, my dear readers, will not let me down and will let me know how you liked it; I hope I didn't disappoint anyone.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Huge thanks to those who reviewed, you're the best!**

**And one announcement: ****This is the first and at the same time the last fanfiction written from only one POV that I have written or will write.**** Can you imagine how the idea to write it this way backfired? :-D Anyway, I'm doing my best and I hope you like it!**

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Chapter 7

Honey, I can't wait to tell you about our next adventure, I have the feeling you might like it. But I won't start before you are tucked up in your bed with your teeth brushed and hair combed.

Now, that's better – and the tale can go on!

Do you remember how I said that the rest of our shopping trip was tensed? Well, it wasn't exactly true. Something happened that day... But let's continue where we finished the last time.

Will and I didn't speak the whole way back to the hospital and when we were there, he helped Georgie to the wheelchair and I hugged her good bye. I looked at Will and said bye, turning away quickly so that I spared us both another awkward moment. I walked a few steps when someone grabbed my arm to stop me. I turned and saw Will, asking me to wait there for him for two minutes. He said he wanted to talk to me.

I nodded and watched him drive Georgie back to her ward. What could he possibly want to talk to me about?

He was back in no time and with a smile said: "Thank you for waiting. May I drive you home?"

This was what he wanted to talk about? I shook my head and replied:

"No, it's not necessary, it's not that far, we can go by bus..."

"Please… I need to talk to you, if you aren't in hurry. Please?" I had no idea why he was being so polite to me and again I got lost in his eyes.

"Sure...What's the matter?"

Once again in his car, Will started to talk, always assuring I could read his lips.

"Thank you for what you're doing for Georgie... She likes you and you're a great motivation for her. Never have I seen her do her schoolwork so enthusiastically and right after she was assigned it." He smiled again and I did too. His sister could get easily excited, that was true. And I was amazed how caring a brother he was.

"I like her too and I like spending time with her, so you don't have to thank me. It's good that it motivates her – I'd say she needs motivation more than anything else."

He looked at me for a while and then asked: "Did she tell you how she got to the wheelchair?"

"No, and I didn't ask. I thought that she would tell me when she felt like it." I answered. Will was quiet for a long time and I thought that the conversation was over. Then he – not looking at me but still facing me – said:

"You might know that our father was the director of the Longbourn hospital. He used to be a surgeon, a famous surgeon, but then he cut his right had so badly that he couldn't perform operations anymore. He was a great doctor, and well respected too. No wonder they voted him the director. Well, and it was him who decided who to hire and who to fire – and there was this one young doctor who kept coming to work late but what's more, he was irresponsible and when on one occasion came drunk to his shift, my father fired him. The young doctor wouldn't accept it and swore to get back to my father one day. My father just brushed it away – and the sick mind of the young doctor came up with a very cruel way to revenge. He damaged the breaks in my father's car and one day my mother, father and Georgie had a tragic accident in it."

He fell silent and I was so shocked I couldn't think of anything to say. I couldn't understand that someone would revenge on a child! After a while Will continued: "Both my mother and father died at the moment of the car crash..." I gasped, which interrupted Will and he looked at me, sorrow in his eyes.

"Oh my god, Will, I'm so sorry! That bastard!"

Will caught my arm and squeezed my hand with his and said: "And I feared I'd lose Georgie too, because they told me her spin was damaged and she was in a comma for about a month… But she's a strong girl."

I squeezed his hand back, and said: "And she's making progress every day! The doctor says she'll be able to walk again if she exercises."

"I know – and thank you for helping her. It means a lot to us."

The rest of the drive passed in silence, not the awkward silence but silence. Will's words echoed in my head and every piece of information that he'd revealed in his story fell to its place together with what I knew from Georgie. The VIP parking… Georgie telling me not to call her Georgiana… Will's reluctance towards Squirrel… Will's being overprotective about Georgie…

I started to look at Will with new eyes and I felt I may have started to understand him.

When we arrived to my and Jane's flat, Will walked me to the door. I was still shaken by the tragic story he'd told me and I was thinking how I could help them other than being their friend.

"Umm, Lizzie, I was thinking…" Will started. "I want to take Georgie to a ranch for one afternoon. The doctor says that it would relax her spin if she rode a horse for an hour or so and I think she'd appreciate it if you could come too?"

I stared at him. Honey, don't take wrong but I don't like horses. I am scared of such big animals! But could I say no?

"Of course I'll come with you, it'll be a pleasure." I answered with a smile. Inside I knew I didn't have a chance to survive a horse trip and I was scared out of my senses!

"Good!" smiled Will, and saying good bye he kissed me on the cheek. Believe me, I was as surprised by it as he was but I had to admit it felt good.

Blushing, I turned and entered the flat. God, that was an insane day!

As you might expect, Jane wasn't home when I arrived and I was thankful for having some time for myself – I had a lot to think about.

And now, darling, do you want to hear about the horse trip? You do? Ooookay, but I'll tell it quickly because it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life! No, nothing terrible happened, but I really am scared of horses!

We went in Will's car and Georgie didn't know where Will was taking us. I promised I won't tell her and even though she was very persistent, I kept my word.

I could smell the horses even before I saw them and it made me dizzy. Will must have noticed the change in my behavior because he kept asking me whether I was okay, and with a stiff smile I kept answering I was great. My stomach was of the size of a raisin though.

Georgie, when she found out that she was going to ride a horse, was on cloud nine and seeing her so happy made me forget about my worries for a moment.

"Lizzie, come with me, we'll ride together!" She called to me and I froze. To mount a horse? Never!

"Um, I'd rather not, dearie, I'd fall down, I can't ride a horse," I replied, wishing that she wouldn't push me.

"Lizzie, don't be a coward! Look, if I can do it, so can you! You wouldn't let me go by myself, would you?"

And then Will came and mouthed: "It'd make her very happy, Lizzie… I'll help you. And I'll look after Squirrel while you're away."

All I could think was "No, no, no, I can't!" but before I knew it, Will was helping me up and suddenly I sat in the saddle. Scarred to death, I sat there and prayed.

The ride didn't take longer than fifteen minutes but I'd swear I had been sitting on the huge animal for eternity when we finally came back. I sort of fainted to Will's arms when he was helping me down and even though I am an abstinent, I wished for a shot of something strong enough to help me recover.

But Georgie enjoyed it and Will was happy for her. So was I, after I regained my composure…

Will drove me home and I invited him and Georgie up for a cup of hot chocolate, coffee or just for a chat. Jane and Charlie were there and I was happy to introduce my sister to Georgie. When no one was watching, Georgie nodded her head towards Jane and winked at me and I knew she approved of Charlie's choice. The girl really behaved more mature than she was supposed to and she was interested in things in which she shouldn't have but I liked having such a refreshingly young friend.

Jane asked where we had been the whole afternoon and Georgie then couldn't be stopped from describing the whole trip. At first, Jane was listening with a smile on her lips but when Georgie got to the moment of me mounting a horse, with a shock in her eyes she exclaimed:

"What have you just said? Elizabeth near a horse? No way! Lizzie wouldn't mount a horse to save her life!"

Georgie and Will fixed their eyes on me and I flushed. Nervous as hell I looked at them and at Jane.

"Apparently, I would…" I shrugged. When no one said anything and they kept staring at me, I said:

"What about a cup of hot chocolate?" and with that I headed to the kitchen. Jane and Charlie were in the living room and Georgie was helping me make the chocolate. Then I noticed Will standing in the door and watching me. When he was sure I was looking at him, he touched his lips with the tips of his fingers and then moved his hand forward until his palm was facing up…

Yes, darling, that's the sign for "thank you", I'm glad you remembered!

Anyway, I was shocked he remembered it too and all I managed to do was to bow my head. With a beautiful smile he slowly turned and went to the living room, while and Georgie were finishing the chocolate.

No, young lady, you won't get hot chocolate after you've brushed your teeth! Besides, I think it's late and you should sleep. Sweet dreams, darling.

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**Thank you for reading and I hope you'll stop by to review.**

**Also be warned that I'm leaving tomorrow and will be back on Sunday. I'll then try to write a longer chapter to make it up to you though!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back from the "holiday" and you'll get an idea about how I spent it from the next chapter – I'd had enough of the balls you can read about in so many P&P's nowadays, so I organized a different pastime for our favorite characters…**

**As always, I'll appreciate your opinion.**

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Chapter 8

I know, sweetheart, that you're bored to death. Believe me, I know how it feels to be sick in bed. But people don't die of cold, and if you're a good girl and you rest, you'll be fine in few days. Look, I brought you hot tea with honey, that'll relieve you. Would it help if I told you a tale? Perhaps a longer one? Okay then, I'll do my best.

After the trip to the ranch, Will started to spend more time with us, I mean with me, Jane and Charlie. We would go play bowling or darts, and he happily joined us in every activity we came up with. Once he asked me to come to the ranch again, and when he saw the terror in my eyes, his eyes softened and he smiled.

"I thought we could ask Emily, Georgie's best friend, to come with us, and the girls could go riding and in the meantime we could have a cup of coffee."

_That_ I could agree with, because I wasn't sure they'd convince me to come near a horse in near future. Horses are amiable animals – as long as they're in a picture.

Georgie and Emily enjoyed the afternoon, and so did I and Will. We sat on the porch of the ranch, sipping ice-latté and talking. If he wanted to, Will could me an amiable, amusing and gentlemanlike fellow and I liked spending time with him. He talked about his parents and the ranch where he and Georgie grew up and about all the animals they used to have. I smiled because it eventually made sense why Georgie knew so much about animals, and even though she and Will have lived in a flat for few years, she needed animals, at least the little ones she told me about.

"We moved to Longbourn when my father became the director of the Longbourn hospital. Before then he would commute every day for his shifts. But my mother's health wasn't exactly perfect the last few months, I started to study in the city and Georgie had school near the new flat. I miss the ranch, though." He had a dreamy look in his eyes and I stole the moment to look at him closely.

I knew his face, his nose, ears – I could draw his face by heart – but it was his eyes that made my knees weak. The greenest eyes I have ever seen, sparkling in the sun. One legend says that you can see the sky in the eyes of the people who went through a tragic accident when they were young. Whatever it was that I saw in Will's eyes, I couldn't stop looking at him.

"Do you see something that you like?" Will asked with a smile, as he turned his head to me.

I blushed and looked away. Will cupped my face with his hands and made look him in the eyes.

"Elizabeth?"

I was scared and thrilled. I wished him to kiss me but at the same time I was afraid of it. I cared about him and he seemed to care about me too but…

Will kissed me. Just a brief, soft kiss – so brief I didn't close my eyes and so soft I didn't believe it happened. Will's eyes were closed, as if he was afraid to see my reaction. When he did, a boyish smile spread across his lips. I smiled too.

"So you don't like horses, huh?" He continued as if nothing unusual happened.

"It would seem so…" I expected him to ask about our first trip to the ranch, to ask why I didn't tell him I was afraid, why I went riding with Georgie…

"Some special reason?"

I looked up at him – no one had ever asked me about it, no one ever cared.

"Oh, I'd love to say I have a sound reason to be afraid of them but I actually don't know. When I was small, we used to go riding and I enjoyed it. Our neighbors in Meryton used to have horses and I'd see them every day. Then we moved out with Jane, and in Longbourn there were no horses." I realized it must sound silly. But Will encouraged me to go on and reluctantly I did.

"Well, and then one day in Meryton a horse came against me on a forest path and I freaked out. I don't know why, I really don't… I just have never been so afraid in my life. And since then… You know," I finished with a smile.

Will placed his hand on mine and smiled reassuringly.

"Thank you again for what you did for Georgie – and for me."

That afternoon – and all the following afternoons spent at the ranch – passed so quickly I hardly noticed it was evening. Time just flew so fast those days…

You might wonder what I felt towards Will, but to be true I had no idea. We would walk, holding hands and talk. Sometimes he touched my hands or my hair, sometimes he slid his arm around my waist and held me. He would kiss me when we said good bye, he would kiss me everytime when met, he would kiss me on every possible occasion. Yet we have never talked about _us_.

My school started in the first week of October, and so did Will's. Sure, Will spent the major part of the holiday in the hospital as a resident, partly because he wanted to gain experience, and partly because his father had loved the Longbourn hospital and on every step you could sense his presence, see his work.

During the school year we usually spent together every evening, either home watching movies or in cinemas, theatres, clubs or just walking and talking.

The weather was unusually hot, given it was October. When we sat in a garden restaurant one evening with Jane and Charlie, I remembered something from our early childhood.

"Jane, do you remember how we went camping with Mum and Dad? The sky looked exactly like today, no clouds, no wind…"

"Yeah… That one evening it looked exactly like today… But the most horrible storm came during the night and at half past two in the morning our tent was in the middle of a pond of water. God, that really was an unforgettable trip!"

I smiled, even though it didn't seem so funny that time and I personally came home with a serious cold.

"I'd love to go camping…" I muttered more to myself than to anyone else.

Squeezing my hand, Will got all excited.

"Let's go! Let's go camping this weekend! We'll set up our tents in the middle of nowhere, make trips, swim, play cards…"

Not only I but Jane and Charlie – we all looked at him incredulously.

"Why not?" He asked, throwing his hands apart.

"I believe you said you hated camping…" observed Charlie with one brow raised.

"No matted what I said before… Let's go camping!"

I don't remember that any of us agreed with Will but none the less, on Friday we packed our things and two and a half hour later we found ourselves in the middle of a forest on a small clearing.

Oh, I forgot to mention there was seven of us – me, Jane, Will, Charlie, Charlotte, Charlie's sister Caroline and my and Jane's cousin Colin. Caroline, when she learned that Will and Charlie were going camping, had to come with them. The poor girl had a crush on Will and even though he'd told her several times that she wasn't his type, she wouldn't give up. And since she was Charlie's sister, Charlie felt obliged to invite her to come with us. She most happily agreed…

And Colin? My mother had the obsessive urge to help all her relatives and when she found that Colin started to study in Longbourn but didn't have anywhere to stay, she offered him to stay at my and Jane's flat. No, she hadn't asked before, actually she didn't ask at all. Colin had been in our flat for a week when we started to plan the camping trip, and thinking how helpful he was, he told us he was coming with us – he used to be a scout. Hah, you'd have to see him to appreciate the travesty of that statement!

Oh, yes, I forgot! Of course Squirrel came with us! I wouldn't go anywhere without her!

We set up three tents, one for girls, one for boys and one for food, water, our bags and other things. Caroline watched us from a camping chair she brought with herself and kept criticizing the whole camping idea.

"I wish I had brought an air-bed, pillow and two blankets. How am I supposed to sleep in a sleeping bag?"

"If you helped us, you'd be tired enough to fell asleep in the moment you'd lay down," remarked Charlie and got back to his work.

"I'd break a nail," smirked Caroline, and Charlotte and I had to try hard not to roll our eyes at her. Break a nail for god's sake!

Yeah, we _really did think_ one could _not_ break a nail when setting up a tent. Truth is that Colin nearly managed to break his _finger_. He was so eager to help with building the tent village and when he was building a fireplace, he dropped a stone on his hand. No, I haven't got an idea how he managed that but the reality was that Colin's hand looked pretty bad and we decided to go back home the next day. So much for camping, I thought.

Anyway, we enjoyed the rest of Friday afternoon – we walked around in the forest and climbed to a rock from where there was wonderful view to the country. It was such a romantic place, you can imagine!

Whenever Will caught my hand, Caroline invented a reason why he had to let me go. Once she fell down and needed to be picked up. Then she needed to tie her shoes and asked Will to hold her purse (of course she took her _purse_ to the middle _of nowhere_!). She was very inventive, believe me.

Truth be told, when it wasn't Caroline, it was Colin. He took advantage of the fact that he was hurt and he needed our help with everything. I didn't have an idea why he always asked _me_ to help him – or at least at first I didn't…

Then there came a moment when Caroline busied Will and Charlie with Jane stayed behind, and Colin grasped my hand and thanked me for inviting me him to that trip. I smiled because he seemed genuinely happy to be there with us.

"I have known it for some time, but this trip made it clear to me!" he exclaimed.

"What, Colin?" I asked, still smiling.

"That you have a crush on me," he replied with a smug smile.

My eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"I know, I know, you thought no one would notice… But you can fool me, I know you like me, don't hide it any more!" And it seemed he wanted to kiss me.

I turned just in the moment to see Will's questioning look – he must have heard Colin's little talk.

I shrugged because I myself didn't have a idea what happened in Colin's head.

Colin grasped my arm and tried again to kiss me but I struggled against him. Before I knew it, he let me go and one second later he was lying on the ground.

"Will?!"

I felt flattered that he came to help me, but punch the poor man?

"Elizabeth, he was harassing you!" Sure he was, but I didn't want Will to punch anyone, let alone my cousin. Or maybe I was to proud to let anyone handle my things for me.

"But you didn't have to punch him!" I didn't know who I was angry at more – Will or Colin.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie… I overreacted." Will looked at me with puppy eyes and then helped Colin back to his feet.

"Colin, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to punch you. I've just gotten so used to looking after Lizzie that…"

I stared, Will stared, Colin stared.

"So you two… You are… You and Elizabeth…" he kept looking between me and Will but Will stared at me and didn't say a word.

"Okay then, I'll leave you alone, dearest cousin."

When he left, Will made few steps towards me, looking down to the ground. When he was just inches apart, he looked at me.

"Lizzie, I'm sorry for what I did… I never realized how possessive I am around you. I just hated him touching you, I hate it when he's around you."

"But you've never told me…" I more like asked than stated.

"I know, and I should have."

When he wrapped his arms around my waist, my heart missed a beat.

"Elizabeth, would you want to be my _official_ girlfriend?"

I had to laugh. "Yeah, _official_ being the crucial word…"

But Will kept looking at me so intently, so seriously, as if his world depended on my decision… Which actually wasn't a decision at all.

"I'd love to, Will."

Darling, I won't describe you how wonderful was Will's kiss after this my sentence, you're too little a princess to be interested in such things. I'll just say it was one of the most marvelous moments of my life and if the world stopped turning right then, I'd happily spend the rest of my days there in Will's arms.

Eventually we returned to the camp. When the sun set, we sat around the fire and played a game – everyone had to say three sentences of a story and the person on his left hand had to add three more, the next one added three more and so on – no, don't ask what stories we told throughout the evening! I don't remember most of it anyway…

Then Will played the guitar and you may be sure that never in my life have I wished to hear as on that evening. I wanted to hear him sing so much! Did he have a deep voice that would make my heart melt? Or was his voice soft that it would felt as if wind was caressing me? You have no idea how sad it made me feel!

Suddenly I felt so alone… I know you can't imagine it but I sit in a circle of people, of friends, of a family and yet I was there alone. They were all singing but I didn't catch a word from their songs because reading lips of a singing person is much harder that when the person is speaking, and in the light of the fire, I couldn't see much. I was happy for them because they enjoyed it – even Caroline did.

I didn't want anyone to see me cry and so I excused I had to walk Squirrel, I left the camp. Problem was it'd gotten quite dark in the meantime and I didn't dare to walk to far.

When I was coming back, Squirrel saw Will even before I did, or maybe she heard him, I wouldn't know. I didn't see whether he was saying something but he probably wasn't, because he just caught my hand and walked with me. I figured he must've been worried about me but I didn't want him to be. I wanted him to understand me.

Call me a coward, but I knew that if I didn't tell him that time, not looking into those piercing eyes of his, I'd tell him never.

"Will, I didn't want you to worry about me, I'm used to walking Squirrel on my own. I just wanted to be alone for a little while… It was selfish of me… But you all sat there, happy, singing, enjoying yourselves… I… I didn't understand what you were singing about… I wanted to hear you so much, I wanted to hear the guitar because you seemed so absorbed in it… I wanted to be a part of it, part of the singing group of my friends and I couldn't stand it any longer that I wasn't there with you… I'm ridiculous, aren't I? I just felt as if I was alone."

Will squeezed my hand I hoped he understood what I meant. I knew he wanted to say something to assure me I wasn't alone but I couldn't hear him and in the dark I couldn't read his lips. How could anyone understand it?

When we returned to the camp, no one sat around the fire – they were already sleeping. I wanted to go to bed too but Will lead me to the fire and showed me to sit in his lap. I felt awkward but I did as he wanted. He took the guitar and placed it to my lap. Then he held my left hand and together we held the guitar. He took my right hand and lead my fingers across the strings.

Oh my god, that was amazing! I felt the guitar responding to my touch, my fingers tingled and a pleasant chill ran along my spine.

"Oh my god…" I turned to see Will's face but he just smiled. Holding my hand in his, he began to write with his right index finger into my palm:

"Y-O-U-W-I-L-L-N-E-V-E-R-B-E-A-L-O-N-E."

...

I lulled you to sleep, sweetheart? Have a rest, and when you wake up, you'll feel better and the cold will be gone. Good night.

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**Well, my dearest readers, here we'll end for today. I hope you appreciated a longer chapter and I'll do my best to post updates regularly now. Guest who will Lizzie meet in the next chapter?**


	9. Chapter 9

**I thought I'd introduce "you know whom" and in the same chapter I'd get us rid off him but you know how persistent he is...I hope you'll stop by to review.**

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Chapter 9

Darling, I'm surprised you are still so interested in the story and the truth is it has been almost like a fairytale – up till now. But if you want me to continue, I'll have to tell you about how we went through a nightmare…

The weeks spent as Will's official girlfriend were the happiest weeks of my life, well, the happiest weeks I knew at that time – but after I married your father and after you were born, every day has been more wonderful then I could have ever imagined, sweetheart.

I studied, worked in the library, visited the patients in the Longbourn hospital and I tried to spend as much of the remaining time as possible with Will. He was also spending a lot of time in the school and in the hospital and he visited Georgie whenever he could. But the scarcer our time together was the more we enjoyed it.

There was one moment though, and I didn't think it was of any importance but looking back now…

I was watching a movie with Will in my room when suddenly Will got up and saying that he heard something, he went to the living room. He came back a minute later, looking serious.

"Something wrong?" I asked because the expression in his eyes surprised me.

"No, honey, everything is okay." He kissed me on the forehead and we watched the movie. Yet he wasn't himself.

But as I said, I didn't think much of it then.

At that time, I was one of the most experienced volunteers of our voluntary center and whenever new volunteers came, I was the one who showed them around the hospital, introduced them to the doctors and nurses of the parts of the hospital which we were attending – either with dogs or to play, talk, read or study with the patients.

Then that charming young man came – he was a new volunteer to teach our children patients biology and chemistry – and I spent an afternoon with him in the hospital. He was a true gentleman and I enjoyed his company. He was amazing with children and polite to the seniors, he was amusing and good-humored and, above all, he was very nice to me. I wasn't exactly used to men flirting with me, you know, and he kept telling me how smart I was and how interesting; he told me few times I was the prettiest girl he had ever seen and he kept smiling at me with, well, how to call it, with a seductive smile.

His name was George and he wanted to be a doctor.

"I actually did work here for a year when I was forced to leave…" he said silently, when we were leaving the hospital.

"Why?"

"Well, I don't want to sound overly self-confident but I was a great doctor and people liked me, doctors, nurses and patients all liked me. But the director of the hospital preferred one medic – his son, to be precise – and he couldn't stand I told him his son had no future in medicine. Will was clever, that's true… But he was too proud and conceited."

I didn't believe him but I couldn't stop myself from thinking about it. I knew Will could look proud and conceited – I myself had thought he was an ass – but I doubted his father would prefer him to other doctors, not after what Will told me about him.

George apparently didn't have an idea I knew Will, and he continued.

"Will was in his first year but old Darcy considered him a doctor already. He let Will attend his patients and once Will killed one."

I jumped up because the way he said it… He was grave and by the look in his eyes I felt he didn't have a reason to make it up. But, Will?

"Why would Will… uh, I mean, why would anyone kill a patient?"

He smiled indulgently and placed his hand on mine.

"Not intentionally, of course! But Will was somewhat distracted that day or he just wasn't as good as his father had thought he was and he confused two medicaments and his mistake killed the man."

Why haven't Will told me, I was thinking. And then again, why would he? That wasn't a thing you would shout from the mountaintops…

"I know, accidents happen. It was tragic but guess what the hypocrite did?"

I shook my head, speechless.

"He blamed it on me! Old Darcy hadn't liked me already and he believed his son, of course, and he gave me the sack."

"But…"

"Yeah, as easy as that, I know! But what could I do, he was the boss' son!"

I couldn't believe it but… What if? And why would George lie? Anyway, I would ask Will and he would explain it, I was sure.

"But let's not talk about the Darcys. What are you doing tomorrow?"

He was hitting on me!

"Uh, I… I… We're going… I'm going to visit a friend in hospital." Which I had just made up but – why not?

"That's lame, you could've said you had a boyfriend!" He rolled his eyes.

"No, it's true."

"So, what about going to see a movie afterwards? I'll meet you here at, let's say, six o'clock?"

Before I had a chance to protest, he kissed me on the cheek and left.

No, honey, don't look at me like that! Of course I didn't forget about Will but… but I was confused!

When I came home, I immediately forgot all about Will. Jane was there, sitting on the sofa, crying her eyes out.

"Honey, what's wrong?" I came to hug her.

"Charlie… He…"

"What did he do to you?!"

It took long before I was able to get a comprehensible answer from her but as it appeared, Charlie sent her an e-mail saying that they should take a break from their relationship and that he was leaving to visit some relatives in Canada. No explanation, no mention when he'll be back… It all seemed so non-Charlieish to me but that wasn't helping Jane at the moment.

I managed to get her to the bed and after she took some sedative, she fell asleep. Then I called Will but he didn't seem too eager to come. Again, at that time I didn't think of it too much.

"Honey, is something wrong?"

I didn't know how to begin. "Charlie left?"

Will apparently paled. "Ye-es…"

"Did he have some special reason?"

"None that I'd know about." He wasn't looking at me and I suddenly got the idea that something was wicked.

"Will?!" When he finally looked me in the eye, I saw he knew more than he was saying.

"Will, tell me!"

He sat down on the couch and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Once I heard Jane talking to some guy on the phone… I thought it was a friend. But then… Then she said of course she would go to a date with him no matter she had a boyfriend. I didn't need to hear more."

I just stared at him. That was what happened the other time when we were watching a movie. But why didn't he tell me?

"What… what are you saying?"

Will stretched out a hand to touch me but I dodged and barely controlling myself, I asked:

"What did you say? What did you do?!"

Will hesitated and I knew something was terribly wrong.

"I told Charlie."

"You told him what?!"

"I told him Jane was dating someone else."

I couldn't believe my eyes!

"You told Charlie that Jane was dating someone? And you knew that how? You asked her? You heard the whole phone call? Oh my god, what gave you the right?"

"But Charlie has the right to know if she is dating someone else!"

"But she isn't!"

Will fell quiet and for the first time he seemed to consider the whole matter. I couldn't believe he would think Jane dated someone else and I had no idea how he came to such a conclusion.

"Tell me, Will, do you really think that Jane would date someone behind Charlie's back? She loves him, for god's sake!"

I was as shocked by my blunt delivery as Will was but I couldn't stop myself from saying everything that was on my mind.

"When I first met you, I thought you were a conceited ass who was looking down on me because I was deaf. I thought you were a snob who didn't have a clue how to get on with people who are, as you put it, not _normal_."

In that moment I was making use of the fact I was deaf because even if Will had wanted to say something, to react, to explain – I wouldn't have let him. I couldn't hear him and not looking at him, I wouldn't know if he was speaking. This way I could say all I wanted.

"Then I got to know you better and I thought that maybe, maybe I was wrong. I thought I managed to shatter your prejudices against deaf people, I believed you wanted to learn to communicate with me…"

I stole a glance at Will and when I saw his hurt eyes, I stammered.

"But then you heard who know what and you immediately _knew_ that Jane was dating someone behind her boyfriend's back, the boyfriend, by the way, who she loves. Or why would you say something like that? You didn't think she was _good enough_ for Charlie or what?"

I lost all self-control I'd had and I just screamed at him senseless. Looking back, it must've been an ugly theatre…

But I hated it when someone judged me before he got to know me. I hated when someone looked down on me. And what I hated even more, when someone hurt my sister.

Then a thought crossed my mind.

"Do you think you can get rid off everyone who doesn't suit you?"

Will looked lost. But I barely gave him time to react when I fired again.

"I met someone and he told me some interesting news… Like that you blamed an accident in the hospital during your first year on him."

That provoked him to a stronger reaction that I'd have anticipated.

"Elizabeth, what are you talking about?" He stood up and came close to me, grasping my arms.

"Oh, don't tell me you don't know! You accidentally killed a person and blamed it on George!"

Never have I seen him so shocked – and so terrified.

"How do you know George?" He asked slowly and I could see he barely controlled himself.

"So you know what I'm talking about!"

He looked almost pleadingly.

"Elizabeth, how do you know him? I have to know!"

I was shaken by the fear – or worry? – in his eyes that I backed up a bit.

"I… I met him today, he's a new volunteer."

"That bastard…" said Will more to himself than to me.

"Will?"

He took my hand and led me to the sofa.

"Sit down, please. I have to explain something to you."

"You don't _have to_!" God, I was so in rage!

"But I want to… Please…"

Reluctantly, I sat next to him and swore I'd not say a word to him ever again.

"Remember I told you about the guy who killed my parents?" My stomach shriveled but Will didn't wait for me to reply.

"His name was George Wickham." He paused and looked at me, his hurt eyes piercing through me.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I didn't think I'd meet the bastard again. I know you're mad at me, and you might be right… But I beg you, don't come near that person again! Believe me that everything I said about him is true. He made it up, the whole "accident thing"… He was the one who killed Mr. Murphy, George was drunk and instead of giving the man insulin, he injected him a blood-thinner and before anyone noticed, Mr. Murphy bled to death."

Something in the way he was looking at me, gripping my hands and shaking, told me he was telling truth.

"But even though it's cruel, accidents happen to everyone. My father would've forgiven him everything, he loved him like a son. But a drunk doctor could cause harm to too many people and my father didn't have a choice other than to fire George. He wanted him to go to a detox, my father would pay for everything, and after George would come back, my father would employ him again. But George felt too aggrieved and swore he'd revenge on the people my father loved…"

I was speechless. What were I thinking? Why didn't I ask Will before accusing him of killing someone and blaming it on a person I hardly knew? Sure, I was mad about him separating Jane and Charlie but…

Will rose to his feet and with the saddest look in his eyes he said:

"I'm sorry I hurt you and I will understand if you will never want to see me again." He looked at me but before I realized it was a question he wanted me to answer, he turned and left the flat.

Sweetheart, you have no idea how glad I am you've fallen asleep and didn't hear the major part of what I've said. You wouldn't sleep well… But tomorrow, we'll get rid off that bad Mr. Wickham, I promise.

* * *

**I liked the idea of Will explaining everything himself - and both he and Lizzie will have a lot to explain in the next chapter. But how do you think I'll edge out Wickham? Didn't you wonder why he isn't in prison?**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

No, honey, I won't tell the whole story from yesterday again! I know you fell asleep but it wasn't anything I would want to say more than one times. Basically, I was stupid enough to nearly believe a complete stranger when he told me Will had accidentally killed a patient and blamed it on said stranger. Even more, I yelled at him and hardly gave him a chance to explain. I didn't stop Will and he left, hurt and probably angry. But believe me I was determined to explain everything to him, and what was more important, to apologize.

I didn't want so send him a dull message how sorry I was and ask him to come – I needed to talk to him and certainly I had no right to ask him to come, after I hurt him so much.

On the other hand, what he did to Jane and Charlie was unforgettable and I thought for a second that it was _him_ who should apologize.

Definitely, we had to talk!

I didn't sleep that night and in the morning, I went to the library unusually early. I had to busy myself and it certainly happened. Before I knew it, it was four in the afternoon and I had no idea what to do next about Will. Maybe Georgie could help, I thought…

When I came to her room, she wasn't there, and one of the nurses told me she was in the playroom. She sat by the piano, her eyes shut, and her fingers were flying over the keys. I watched her until she finished, and then I moved towards her.

"Lizzie!" she cried out and rode the chair to me.

So Will hasn't told her…

"Hi, Georgie!" I hugged her. "How have you been?"

"Oh, pretty much still the same, though they let me walk in the swimming pool today…"

I must've misunderstood.

"_Walk?!"_

She smiled mischievously, her eyes sparkling.

"Well, yes," she started slowly and then exclaimed: "Lizzie, I will walk!"

"Oh my darling friend, I'm so happy for you!" I hugged her and held her tight. "Have you told Will?"

"No, I haven't talked with him yet. But he's coming in an hour or so."

I paled. "Is he?"

When Georgie saw the change in my behavior, she started to ask what was wrong, whether Will hurt me and whether we had an argument.

"We had a rough debate – which is all I am going to tell you." She looked slightly disappointed but apparently respected it and changed the topic.

"I play a new sonata, pretty difficult one. No one heard me play it. Would you do me the honor and let me play it for you?"

I felt flattered, and nodded.

"But Georgie, I'd wish Jane heard you play, couldn't we wait until I come the next time and bring her with me?"

Her face fell and she was thinking,

"Do you think, Lizzie, that your sister would mind listening to it from a record? I mean, we could record it and you'd play it for her. I'm so excited about you _feeling_ this sonata!"

That I could not decline, not after she was looking at me with those pleading eyes, so similar to her brother's.

"But I don't have anything to record it on…"

She smiled because she must've been expecting this to arise.

"I have an iPod, we'll record it and than you'll either let Jane listen to it or you're download it to your laptop. What do you think?"

"Well, I don't know how it works… I have never needed an iPod…"

She shook her head, already on the way for the iPod.

"Look, here you'll push this button and after I finish, you push it again and it'll stop recording. Clear?"

God, the girl enjoyed explaining things so much that I had the feeling she would be a good teacher.

I nodded, she drove to the piano and began playing. I enjoyed the piano vibrating against my palms even more than I did the first time. I enjoyed it partly because it was the only way I could imagine what music was like, and partly because she was playing the new difficult piece just for me – and I was the first one to hear it.

When she finished, I hugged her with tears in my eyes.

"Honey, you're the best! I don't know how to explain it but your playing makes me feel happy and "_norma_l", if you know what I mean. Thank you, thank you very much."

After a modest _thank you_ from her, I slipped the iPod into my pocket.

"I'm sure Jane will love it too, I'll let her listen to it as soon as I come home and I'll text you how she liked it, ok?"

Then I looked at the clock, it was something after six and I had to go cook diner for Jane – I suspected she was in no mood to cook and I doubted she'd eaten anything since the day before.

Georgie looked disappointed.

"Okay, I won't try to persuade you to stay here and wait for Will with me."

I jumped at the mention of her brother, and Georgie noticed.

"But promise me," she added, "That you'll talk to him. He loves you."

Yet he never told me, I thought.

"I love him too, I love him too," I muttered more to myself than to her, and I decided I'd tell Will when I see him. Why hadn't I told him already, anyway?

I hugged her and left. When I stood in front of the hospital, a familiar figure approached me.

"Hey baby, I thought you weren't coming," Wickham said and tried to kiss me on the cheek.

Neither I thought I was coming – I totally forgot about our "date".

"George, I'm not going anywhere with you."

He just smiled.

"Why, babe, you don't like me?" God, the guy was self-confident – the way he said it!

"You lied to me," I answered calmly.

"About what, beauty?" He threw his arm around my shoulders which I shrugged off immediately.

"About the Darcy's, for the beginning."

"I have no idea…"

"You have no idea?! What if I know that it was you who killed Mr. Murphy while you were drunk? And that you swore you'd revenge on the Darcy family?"

He swallowed hard and I saw a dangerous spark in his eyes.

"And what if I did? What if I killed the good-for-nothing all times complaining old-timer? And what if I killed the Darcy's? What can you do? I'll never confess – and you're just a stupid deaf, no-one will believe you. So yes, I killed that Murphy guy and I played a bit with the brakes in that bastard Darcy's car. He deserved it and all I can say, I'm sorry the Darcy kids weren't in the car too. I hate them! If I ever saw that bastard Will, I'd…"

In that instant someone grabbed my shoulder and pushed me back – and a second later Wickham was on the ground, holding his bleeding nose.

Will stood above him and said something I didn't catch. Then he grasped my hand and led me away, until we were outside of the hospital premises.

"Elizabeth…" Will started and looked at me with concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay? Didn't he… What did he…"

I hugged him and mumbled that I was okay, and I held him. Then we sat on a bench and he started talking – and he talked so fast I barely knew what he was talking about.

He said that Wickham didn't go to jail because there wasn't enough evidence and he wouldn't confess. He also said how he tried everything to get Wickham behind the bars but nothing had worked.

Then he looked at me and continued on a different topic.

"Darling, I talked to Jane…"

I straightened but he didn't notice.

"I talked to her about the phone call she had few days back, the one about the date…"

Then he noticed I was scowling and his face dropped even more than it'd been before.

"I was an ass and I told her I was sorry."

I didn't understand – he was an ass and that's why he apologized?

"Hold on, Will, I have no idea…"

"She was talking to some guy from school, he follows her around and keeps telling her to go to a date with her. And she answered him _in irony_ that she'd go… I though… I didn't think… Well…"

I still didn't get it.

"I left before she finished the conversation with him – but she told him he was crazy to think she'd date him and sent him to you know where."

Jane? I was stunned. Calm, always nice Jane?

"I didn't notice the irony in her voice when she said she would date him… I wasn't thinking, I was being stupid and I can't say how sorry I am and…"

I kissed him because I didn't know of any other way to silence him. He was shocked at first but then he hugged me. After a moment he held me on the arm's length and awkwardly crossed his palms over his heart…

I stared… Had he just…? Oh my god!

"Will, do you know what you've just signed?" I asked, not believing my eyes.

He smiled boyishly and looking me in the eye, he said:

"I hope I just signed that I love you."

My hand flew to my mouth because I cried out something incomprehensible. He was looking at me, staring at me, waiting with uncertainty in his eyes.

"Oh my god, Will, I love you too! I love you so much!" I hugged him and held him tight, enjoying the feeling I can't describe, darling.

Suddenly Will made me look at him and confusedly said:

"Darling, your pocket is beeping…"

"I have nothing in my…" And with that I fished Georgie's iPod.

"An iPod? It says its batteries are low," said Will incredulously.

"Yes, it's Georgie's. We were recording her playing piano and I must've forgotten to turn it off after we finished."

Will looked at me as if I just discovered seventh continent. Then he asked me slowly:

"So it has been recording the whole time?"

"Yes…" I replied, not knowing what was so shocking about it.

"So it was recording through your conversation with Wickham?!"

And then the realization dawned on me – I recorded Wickham's confession on Georgie's iPod!

Oh, honey, my phone's vibrating. I have to go, sleep now, I'll tell you the rest tomorrow. Night!

* * *

**So, my dear readers – I came up with a way to get Wickham where he should be, into the prison. I doubt a confession recorded on an iPod would be enough to get him there but let's think it would, okay?**

**I apologize for slower updates, we've had busy week at our voluntary center – we really are striving to get that grant Lizzie talked about in the first few chapters. Also be warned that I'm leaving for the weekend and I'll be back on Monday evening. Sorry for the delays, and enjoy the summer days!**

**Reviews keep me going, don't forget about it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the delay, the weekend was busier than anticipated**** – but I'm perfectly relaxed and ready to face another week. I hope you'll like the next chapter, and you'll have a minute to post a review.**

**TwilightStarLaughter, I owe you an explanation and I hope you'll get it from this chapter.**

**Huge thanks to all who reviewed – I know it's a cliché, but still: You keep me going!**

* * *

Chapter Eleven

My dearest little lady is already in her pyjamas? What a rare occasion! And you want me to tell you a tale? And do you remember what the last thing I was talking about was? The iPod, very well! I thought you'd forget_ my_ tale after Daddy was telling you _his_ tale. By the way, honey, what was Daddy's tale about yesterday and the day before? Oh, you won't tell me?! Why? It is a secret? Okay then, you and Daddy have a secret tale and I and you have another one, right? Right. So we'll move on with _our_ tale…

Will took the iPod and headed right to the police station to ask whether a confession recorded on an iPod would be enough to sentence Wickham to jail and I went home to Jane.

She was in the kitchen, apparently trying to cook us something for dinner but her thoughts were distracting her and when I saw her, I knew she wasn't able to cook anything. So I boiled the water and put in some spaghetti and started to make my favorite cheese sauce.

"How was your day, Lizzie?" she asked absentmindedly and it was apparent she needed me to talk to her and distract her.

"Library was busy, lots of new books. Oh, we got the new one from Jeffery Deaver you wanted to read. I borrowed it, it's in my bag if you still want it."

Jane smiled.

"Sure, thank you – I'm looking forward to reading it." Then she fell silent.

"You don't have to read it now – you have a month. But I thought it'd cheer you up…"

She looked at me with a light smile on her lips.

"Will told you, didn't he?"

"He told me that he talked to you and that he apologized for driving you and Charlie apart," I answered.

"Yeah, I was mad at him – for not believing me, for thinking I'd cheat on Charlie, for thinking I wasn't good enough… But now I'm mad at Charlie! If he loved me, he wouldn't let Will persuade him…"

"Jane!" I grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Jane, Charlie loves you. He was just being stupid… And probably questioned the fact that such a beautiful and amazing girl as you would date him. He's not overly self-confident, you know that, don't you?"

Jane nodded but didn't say anything.

"Jane, look at me! Charlie loves you and he was stupid enough to believe Will that you didn't love him back. But I'm sure that he'll come, fall on his knees and ask you to forgive him! Don't give up!"

She smiled but I suspect it was more at my enthusiasm than at the thought of Charlie kneeling in front of her.

I texted Georgie and I had to lie a bit – Will had decided it would be better if Georgie didn't know about what I recorded on the iPod but I didn't want to disappoint her.

"_Hi G, Jane loved the sonata and says U R a pro! She asks if she can borrow the iPod cause she likes your choice of songs? Liz"_

The next day, Will met me after school and said the iPod recording wasn't solid enough evidence but it gave the procurator what he called _a reasonable doubt_ and Wickham was to be brought to interrogation. As we learned later, the interrogator played the recording to Wickham and _indicated_ that it proved he was guilty. Wickham gave up and confessed – now it was official and in presence of one investigator and a police officer. _That_ would get him to prison for the rest of his days.

Will walked me to my flat and when I saw Charlie's car in front of the house, I raised my brows – but before I had a chance to ask, Will shrugged his shoulders.

"I called him, told him I was being an ass about him and Jane and asked him to come back. I suppose he did…"

I kissed him even though I still couldn't believe he wanted to separate his best friend from my darling sister. But we all make mistakes, don't we?

"What was that for?"

"For trying to make amends."

"Am I forgive then?"

"Ask me later, hon, because now we have no idea how Jane will accept Charlie. She's pretty angry with him…"

"I'm sorry, you don't have an idea how sorry I am."

Sweetheart, he was so cute when he got out of this self-confident, proud shell of his! The boyish look of his face, the uncertainty in his eyes… Of course I'd already forgiven him – and I hoped Jane would too. But he deserved the uncertainty, didn't he?

We came to the flat and found Jane and Charlie kissing passionately on the sofa.

"Get a room you two!" I cried out and when Jane heard me, she came to hug me, tears of happiness in her eyes.

I signed "So he came?" and Jane just nodded and signed "I'm so happy, Lizzie!"

"What are you two talking about?" asked Charlie curiously.

"You!" Jane and I laughed simultaneously.

"Ha ha. But you know what, Liz? I know some new signs, do you want me to sign them to you?"

He was so excited I had to laugh.

"Sure, go on."

Then he signed something that resembled "I'm hungry," and "Where is the toilet, please?" Useful phrases…

Then he signed "I like to eat computer" and when he saw my confused expression, he asked:

"What did I sign?"

"That you like to eat computers…"

Will burst into laughter and Jane had hard time not to.

"Well, I meant _chocolate_."

Smiling, I corrected him and he happily kept signing _chocolate_ for the rest of the evening – and for the next week or so, to be precise.

Since then, whenever I met him, I said "Hi, Chocolate!" and I signed it at the same time. It'd become his nickname. Charlie was very interested in the sign language and I loved him for being so relaxed about me being different. You don't see that much, you know?

Once I explained him that the deaf people usually don't sign their names – they use the first letter for example. So If I Jane talked about _Will_, we signed just _W_. But it is also usual that family and friends use some sort of nicknames, known just to them. For example my nickname is when you hold your right hand in front of your face, fingers slightly curved and you move it in counterclockwise circles – yes, it means _dizzy_. Why it is my nickname? Because it rhymes with_ Lizzy_ which is how my parents call me. No, darling, I'm not _Dizzy_ for you, I'm _Mum_ – no way you call me _Dizzy_…

So Charlie was given his nickname, _Chocolate_, and he was very proud of it. Will later confessed to me that he was jealous that Charlie had a nickname and he didn't. But truth be told, Charlie tried to enter my world more than Will did – at least he was more enthusiastic about it. Will on the other hand was shy about the sign language.

I perfectly understood him, he was the type of person who had to know something perfectly before he could present it to others. It was the same with me and drawing. I used to draw when I was a child but wouldn't show my pictures to anyone until I thought they were perfect – and they never were. Just once I took one of my pictures, there was and old, sad tree in it, and I showed it to my mother. I can hear her "That's so gloomy!" even today. And then I stopped drawing.

So yes, I was sad Will wasn't trying to communicate with me in _my_ language but I understood that he was too shy to try.

That's why I was more than shocked when I was signing something to Jane – and Will in fluent sign language joined into the conversation.

"William?"

"Dearie, why do you call me William? It sounds as if you were angry with me!"

"I am! You know sign language and you didn't tell me?"

Again, there was this boyish smile and Will said:

"I wanted to surprise you… I've been attending sing language course since the week you went with Georgie and me to the horse ranch for the first time – and it looks I've learnt something…"

I jumped around his neck and Jane just smiled.

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"As I said, I wanted to surprise you. But there was another reason…"

He looked down and suddenly seemed that he'd said more than he wanted to.

"What is it, Will?"

Reluctantly, he looked at me and said:

"I thought that when we will have children, they might be deaf… And I want to be able to communicate with them."

I was speechless. Children?

"Will, we've never talked about children..."

"I know… And I know it's early to think about them… But one day, after you and I finish school and after we marry, I hope we'll have children…"

I didn't know what to say, it was so unexpected and I hadn't believed Will took our relationship so seriously. Not that I minded, not at all!

"You want to marry me?" was all I could say.

"Elizabeth, I love you more than I thought it was possible to love someone. I'm crazy about you! I want to spend my life with you and have a family with you. Do you… Or… Elizabeth, will you marry me – one day?"

Against my will, I had to smile. It seemed as cut out from some romantic book, or a fairy tale. I felt as a princess and I knew Will was my Prince Charming.

"I will – one day – marry you, Will. I'll be happy to marry you."

Jane stood there, watching us and smiling. I hugged Will and then I hugged her.

"But why would you think our children would be deaf?" I asked.

He looked confused.

"I thought it's hereditary… You have been deaf since you were born, weren't you?"

"Sure I was… And so was my grandmother… So it probably is hereditary but that doesn't mean my children will be deaf, they might and might not."

"Anyway, I want to be prepared, darling. And if they can hear, I'd still want them to learn to sign. You have learnt how to speak and I want to learn how to sign."

I was amazed by the change Will had gone through – from _"I won't make a fool of myself just to make her feel like a normal person,"_ to _"I want to be part of your world and I want to be able to communicate in your way."_

First, I couldn't believe it but when I saw the love in Will's eyes, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

That was one of the happiest days of my life, darling.

And now, if you promise me you'll sleep now, I'll promise to tell you tomorrow how it all ended, okay? Good night then, sweetheart.

* * *

**You might have notice****d we have come near to the end of the story – I'll write and epilogue to give it a conclusion. It's the highest time because the school year has started and even though my school starts in October, I've already been busy. So look forward to the epilogue and if you have some suggestions about what you want to read there, feel free to write it in a review.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"Alright, honey, I've promised to tell you the rest of the tale today – but why is _Daddy_ sitting in your bed?"

"Ummm, Abigail wanted me to tell her the end of _my_ tale..."

"Sure, but Will, tell me, what was _your_ tale about?"

"You tell me first!"

"No, I asked you first!"

"Lizzie…"

"Will?"

"Allright, alright… I was telling Abigail about how I met the love of my life. What was your story about?"

"Pretty much the same…"

"Well then, go on with your story… I'll add my bits if you miss something out."

"Well then… So, sweetheart, first I want to tell you about Jane and Charlie – your aunt finished school with A grades from all of the major subjects. She started to teach at the Longbourn high school but soon she changed it for the elementary school, you know, she likes little children…"

"No wonder she and Charlie are expecting their third…"

"Well, yes – Mark was born about a year after their wedding and Susan a year after him, and she's one now."

"And Jane and Charlie teach them both to sign."

"Sure, because Susan is deaf – and because they want all their children to be able to communicate both in sign language and spoken English. Exactly as you, my little angel, you both speak and sign."

"And what about _me_?"

"Oh, Will, you are not a child!"

"But I learned anyway!"

"And I appreciate it, my love, I really do."

"Anyway, after Charlie finished his school, he became a neurosurgeon, a great one. He and Jane live in Longbourn. Oh, and they'll come to visit us this weekend."

"And what about Georgie, will your sister come too?"

"She said she would and I hope she won't have to stay at school during the weekend, she said they had some pretty bad exams coming…"

"But your sister has gone a pretty long way since the hospital, hasn't she? The exercising helped her…"

"Oh and she was so stubborn, so determined about it!"

"… and now she can walk, though with a stick. But the doctors say that one day she won't even need the stick. Anyway, I'm so proud of her!"

"So am I, darling, and I hope that our parents would be too…"

"I know they would, Will."

"I hope my father would like the way in which I lead the hospital. He had been so fatherly about all the employees…"

"And so are you, Will."

"Thank you, my love, I wouldn't be who I am now if it weren't for you."

"That certainly is true… And I love you for who you are, Will."

"Uh, now, Abigail, I don't want to talk about the wedding…"

"I do, Will!"

"Well, go on, I'll continue after the wedding."

"Well, darling, imagine a white-blue dress for a princess, the bridesmaids dressed in light blue dresses, white-blue flowers everywhere, blue cars, white cake…"

"Hey, didn't you forget about someone?"

"Oh, and your father, darling, in a blue suit, white shirt and light blue tie… He looked even handsomer than he looks now."

"Ha ha."

"No, I mean it, you should wear the suit more often."

"No way!"

"Okay, as you wish, William, but your women patients would fall on their knees…"

"I don't want my patients to fall on their knees!"

"Anyway, the wedding was hectic, thanks to my crazy father…"

"And even crazier mother…"

"Touché… But, the moment it was over, your father and I went to Greece for honeymoon."

"And your mother got sunburnt on the first day…"

"And your father stepped on a sea urchin…"

"Ouch, that hurt!"

"… but we had the time of our live, didn't we, darling?"

"Sure we did, Liz… And Abigail, when you're old enough, we'll go to Greece together and show you where we went."

"And Abby, do you remember about my friend Charlotte? I haven't talked about her much, I know… But that's because after our camping trip she did the stupidest thing in her life…"

"But it was her decision and you should respect it, Lizzie."

"I can't respect it! I'd thought she was sensible, smart girl… And then she went out with Colin, the stupid cousin of mine, who was able to ruin half of our camping trip…"

"He didn't do it on purpose."

"And now you'll stand up for him!"

"No, what I meant was that you shouldn't judge Charlotte and Colin… They are happy, aren't they?"

"They are…"

"You see, it was their choice and you should respect that."

"I'll try… But now, Will, tell Abby how we moved here."

"Right. You know your mother didn't like horses, don't you? Well, that's not quite true now, she has overcome the fear… Hasn't you, darling?"

"More or less…"

"More or less… And it actually was your mum's idea, Abigail, to move to this ranch. It is the same ranch my father sold ten years ago. It's a bit off hand from Longbourn but I don't mind commuting to the hospital, and in three years you'll be old enough to go to school, and Lizzie or I will drive you there... You know we have two cats, rabbits and fowl, and Squirrel the Second – it's also a border collie, as was the first one. Oh, how I miss her…"

"To think you didn't like her at the beginning…"

"It was not that I wouldn't like her… I just…"

"I know, Georgie told me you didn't want to have a dog because it lives too short."

"Anyway Abby , we have horses too..."

"And I am able to touch them – and who knows, a day may come when I'll be able to ride them. But now, now I'm perfectly happy as long as there's a fence between me and a horse…"

"And I won't have to go riding on my own…"

"Uh, but before we moved here, we both finished school, you forgot to mention it!"

"And I became the director of the Longbourn hospital…"

"And I haven't become anything because I got pregnant right after I finished the school…"

"Which was exactly what you wanted, darling."

"Yes, it was what I wanted… And nine month later you, my little angel, were born – and the last three years have gone so fast I have barely had time to stop and look around myself!"

"Do you want to know what you would see, my love?"

"Tell me, Will."

"If you looked around, you'd see a perfect home for a perfect family. You'd see our friends and families, you'd see our dreams come true."

"And we'll be happy till the end of our days… The bell rings and the fairy tale ends."

"Or begins?"

"Or it begins…"

THE END

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**Thank you all, who have read my story up till now, and I hope you liked it. I will appreciate your opinions, and I'll gladly answer your questions, if you have any. I hope it gave you a slight insight into the deaf community and that you might have learnt something new. Thank you again, especially those who reviewed and questioned my steps throughout the story!**


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